Black Coffee

I opened the door, and the little bell above rang loudly and the man at the breakfast bar turned his head slightly while stooped over his steaming hot coffee. The waitress in her baby blue diner dress and white apron waved in my general direction and said to me “Just sit anywhere hon.” Her eyes showing her disdain that she had yet another customer at 3:30 am and wouldn’t be bothered to hide it. She pursed her lips and curtly asked me “What’ll be?” as I climbed onto the seat at the far end of the breakfast bar.

“Could you tell me where I am?” I asked.

“A diner, what does it look like?” She responded before pouring me a cup of coffee.

“I didn’t order this.”

She shrugged her shoulders and walked to the man about five seats over and started making quiet small talk. I rummaged my brain for a clue, but I could not remember how I got there. Did I drive? Take a cab? Walk?

Suddenly, the sound of a bell ringing startled me out of my thoughts. I looked back just in time to see a couple blow through the door, so wrapped up in each other they hardly noticed the waitress’s death glare in their direction. The woman was tall with long wavy brown hair, her presence radiating with confidence, love, and a hint of lust. The man, slightly taller than the woman, even with her red stiletto pumps on, had dark complexion and a military hairstyle and was equally attractive as his mate. He was almost floating on the air surrounded by the passion and love that flowed from his entire self. Sitting at the booth behind me, they never said a word, looked in my direction, or seemed to notice the waitress pouring coffee for each of them, again without it being ordered.

“Excuse me, can either of you tell me where I am?” I asked the couple. All the good it did me, they acted as if I did not exist.

I turned to the white mug of black steaming coffee in front of me. I wasn’t thirsty, nor was I hungry. Why did I want so badly to drink this coffee? I picked up my mug, but before I could bring it to my lips, I heard a man behind me say, “Don’t do that.”

I turned and a man in a long trench coat over a black suit was standing behind me, staring down at me. Next to him stood the couple, no longer loving on one another, but staring directly at me. My heart skipped a beat as I saw them, one second so happy and in love and the next staring at me like they could see my soul. Their eyes completely black. Were their eyes black a moment ago?

Fear creeped up my spine sending gooseflesh down my arms. Quickly, the man shoed the couple away like he knew them and sat down next to me. Leading the way was the cup of coffee he was stooped over when I first came in.

“Excuse me?” I asked in a higher pitched voice than I meant too.

“I said, don’t do that”

“Yeah, I heard you but why? Who are you, who are those people?” I said, trying to hide the tremble of fear in my voice.

“You don’t need to worry about them, as long as I am here, they won’t bother you.”

Looking at the man for the first time, he was tall, muscular and had skin the color of honey. A little scruffy from a well past five o’clock shadow, and deep brown eyes. His raven hair was just long enough on top for him to brush back with his hand, gracefully. He was the most beautiful man I had ever seen.

“Where am I?” I asked once again.

“That doesn’t matter right now, what does matter is that no matter what happens, you do not drink from that mug.”

“No matter what happens? What does that mean? None of this makes sense.” I could feel the tears pool up in my eyes. Suddenly, I was exhausted. I felt as though I could not hold my eyes open. Just as I was about to close them, the bell rang again pulling me back from the edge of unconsciousness. I looked at the door to see a large man, intimidating in size, having to duck to enter the diner. He looked at me and his eyes were all black and piercing like couples had been. He walked almost gracefully and sat at the booth behind the couple. The waitress brought him a cup of coffee as well, no words ever spoken between them.

“ding, ding” The door again.

Before I could turn to see who opened the door, the entire diner was filled with people. Every seat and booth filled with black eyes in normal, but somehow attractive looking people.

On the surface everyone looked normal, happy even. For a moment I almost forgot that I still did not know where I was, or how strange the night had been. For just a moment.

Again, the chills slithered up my spine sending more gooseflesh down my arms; that dark undertone, the feeling of helplessness and fear so thick in my lungs it felt as if I would drown in it. Looking around, everyone had a basic white mug of black coffee sitting in front of them, but they all ignored it as if it were not there.

The man in the trench coat leaned over and asked,

“So, what is your name?”

“I… I’m… Actually, I don’t know.” I stuttered as I studied my mug of coffee, which was still steaming away. A physical urge starting in my chest and spreading to my limbs overtook me. Nothing in that moment mattered, nothing but taking a sip of that coffee, despite the sense of danger from the raised hairs on the back of my neck. It was like seeing nothing I had ever felt before. My fingers tingled with urgency.

I picked up my mug and had already brought it to my lips when I felt all eyes on me. Several of these black-eyed people were surrounding me and pushing in closer and closer. The man next to me whispered

“Put down the mug. If you don’t, they will rip you to shreds and I won’t be able to stop them.”

Terrified, I sat the mug back down and in an instant these people were all back to sitting, laughing, and having conversations with one another. Most importantly in that moment, those black eyes were not boring holes through me.

“What is so special about this coffee I was served but can’t even drink? And why does everyone else have a mug too?” I asked the man almost angrily, but he never looked up or answered my questions.

I was not aware of how long I had been there, but I knew it had to be getting light soon. In all this time no one ever moved, ate, or went to the bathroom.

I just sat there, unable to move for fear of what those people would do to me. Several hours after the last time I picked up the mug, I felt an even stronger urge to take a large sip of the thick black coffee. The smell alone was invigorating, like opening a fresh can of coffee grounds. It was so strong I did not even realize that I had already brought the cup to my mouth when I felt something sharp on my throat. Realization hit me that I was again circled by strangers, one of which had a knife to my throat. I froze, holding the mug millimeters from my lips afraid to make any sudden movements.

“You’re never going to learn, are you?” This strange man exasperated.

Holding as still as I could I responded with, “This mug of coffee had been sitting here for hours and it’s was still as hot as it was when it was poured. What will happen if I drink it?”

“Just. Don’t. Drink it.” He replied seemingly agitated with my questions.

I was ensnared on all sides by those strange black eyes. I knew I was about to die. The danger I was in was hung heavy in the air. Those people were almost foaming at the mouth waiting to attack. I knew what was going to happen if I drank, but the pull of the mug was too intense. I slammed my eyes shut, waiting on the cool metal of the knife against my throat to pierce the skin, and drank deeply from the plain white mug.

When I opened my eyes, I was no longer in the diner, but in my bed. Soft sheets, almost silky to the touch, under a thick comforter. All the feelings of fear that consumed my body and mind just a moment ago, melted away and as if it were a distant memory, just out of reach. My alarm beeped and I rolled over to turn it off, when there sitting next to my phone, was a plain white mug of steaming black coffee.